Combination control under competition law balances merger review, suspensory notification and competition assessment before deal completion.
The Competition Act, 2002 regulates combinations-mergers, acquisitions and amalgamations-through a suspensory notification regime administered by the Competition Commission of India. A transaction is notifiable when the prescribed asset, turnover or deal value thresholds are met, subject to de minimis and other exemptions. The Commission assesses whether the combination is likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition and may approve, conditionally approve with remedies, or reject the transaction within the statutory time limit. (AI Summary)

GST refund of statutory pre-deposit cannot be denied by rigid limitation after a successful appeal.
Refund of statutory pre-deposit under GST cannot be denied merely on the ground that the refund application was filed beyond the two-year period mentioned in Section 54 of the CGST Act. Where an assessee deposits the mandatory pre-deposit for maintaining an appeal and the appellate authority allows the appeal, the pre-deposit becomes refundable as a substantive right and the department cannot retain it without authority of law. The limitation provision must be read with Article 265, the legislative use of "may", and the absence of unjust enrichment where the amount was paid from the assessee's own funds. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit protection for bona fide buyers limits GST denial to collusive or fraudulent supplier default cases.
Input tax credit under GST cannot be denied to a bona fide recipient merely because the supplier later defaults in payment of tax or has its registration cancelled at a later stage, where the purchaser has otherwise complied with the conditions under Section 16(2) and the transaction is not collusive or fraudulent. The Karnataka High Court treated the buyer's genuine transaction as protected from disallowance under Section 16(2)(c), and read that provision down so that it applies only where the transaction is not bona fide or is designed to defraud revenue. (AI Summary)

Symbolic possession in CIRP is unsupported; actual control and custody by the resolution professional govern asset handover.
Symbolic possession under SARFAESI is a paper possession of secured property without physical control, but the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code requires the Interim Resolution Professional to take actual control and custody of the corporate debtor's assets on commencement of CIRP. The article examines whether, in a section 10 CIRP, a corporate debtor may hand over only symbolic possession to the Interim Resolution Professional. Referring to the Orion Water Treatment Private Limited case, it notes that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal found no legal basis for symbolic possession in CIRP and upheld actual handover of assets, records, and cooperation. (AI Summary)

Income tax transition planning demands year-end compliance, revised TDS/TCS filings, and careful regime selection before new rules begin.
Transition to the Income Tax Act 2025 and Income Tax Rules 2026 requires taxpayers to complete year-end compliance steps before 31 March 2026, including correction of TDS/TCS returns, filing of the new low or nil TDS certificate form, and completion of transitional actions arising from the new regime. The article also notes changes in TDS/TCS rates and thresholds from 1 April 2026, revised budgeting for business and professional taxpayers, and the need to evaluate regime choice and tax provisioning for the coming year. (AI Summary)

Due diligence in business transfers shapes valuation, risk allocation, disclosures, and compliance across Indian merger and acquisition deals.
Due diligence in business transfers under the Indian legal framework is a structured risk-assessment and compliance review undertaken before mergers, acquisitions, slump sales, asset purchases, share transfers, and business transfer arrangements. It examines legal, financial, operational, tax, regulatory, labour, environmental, intellectual property, property, and insurance issues so that valuation, transaction structure, representations and warranties, indemnities, and post-closing obligations are properly informed. Buyer's due diligence is exhaustive and risk-focused, while seller's due diligence is used to identify red flags, regularise compliance gaps, prepare disclosures, and reduce negotiation friction. (AI Summary)

Section 75 taxpayer protections shape GST adjudication through hearing rights, demand limits, quantified interest, and time-bound orders.
Section 75 of the CGST Act, 2017 is presented as a taxpayer-protective framework covering adjudication, hearing, demand restriction, interest, penalty, and limitation. The article highlights that personal hearing is mandatory in adverse orders, adjournments are limited, and the adjudication demand cannot exceed the show cause notice. It also explains that interest should be quantified in the show cause notice, while the Allahabad High Court is cited for holding that section 75(9) cannot cure failure to quantify interest at the notice stage. (AI Summary)

Advance Authorisation scheme balances duty-free input imports with export obligation, value addition, and strict end-use compliance.
Advance Authorisation under the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 permits duty-free import of inputs for manufacture of export goods, subject to strict end-use, export obligation, and value addition requirements. The scheme may be issued on the basis of SION, self-declaration, Norms Committee fixation, or the Self Ratification Scheme, and is available mainly to manufacturer exporters and merchant exporters linked with supporting manufacturers. It grants exemption from major customs and trade-related levies, incorporates pre-import and actual user conditions, allows domestic sourcing through Advance Release Order or Invalidation Letter, and requires export obligation fulfilment within the prescribed period, with regularisation and EODC closure procedures. (AI Summary)

Clean slate doctrine under IBC can extinguish pre-approval GST demands and bar fresh post-resolution claims.
An approved resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code can extinguish pre-approval GST liabilities because IBC prevails over inconsistent tax law and operates with a moratorium during CIRP. Creditors, including GST authorities, must file claims within the insolvency process, and liabilities not provided for in the resolution framework cannot ordinarily be revived later. Under the clean slate doctrine, an approved resolution plan binds all stakeholders, including government authorities, and bars fresh demands for pre-resolution liabilities. (AI Summary)

Arbitration awards and GST depend on whether each claim is additional consideration or compensatory payment.
Arbitration awards arising from construction and infrastructure contracts must be analysed component-wise for GST purposes, because different claims within the same award may have different tax consequences. Amounts awarded for additional work, price escalation, or upward revision of contract value retain the character of consideration for supply and are liable to GST, while amounts awarded as compensation for breach of contract, liquidated damages, loss, delay, or reimbursement of damage do not constitute consideration for supply and fall outside GST. The timing of payment does not by itself exclude taxability where the award revises contract value upward under the transitional framework. (AI Summary)

Bona fide baggage and mandatory customs safeguards govern passenger jewellery, not suspicion based on gold purity alone.
Jewellery worn as personal adornment forms part of bona fide baggage, and gold is not a prohibited item merely because of its purity or weight. The article stresses that seizure cannot rest on the presence of 24-carat gold when the article is used personal jewellery, and that customs law regulates import, not personal adornment. It further states that a proper show cause notice, personal hearing, and compliance with seizure timelines are mandatory procedural safeguards that cannot be bypassed through airport waiver forms. (AI Summary)

Natural justice in reassessment requires notice to the correct counterparty and current address before adverse tax action.
Correct identification of the counterparty and its current address is essential in tax enquiry and reassessment proceedings. Where the revenue proceeds on information relating to one entity, but the assessee states that transactions were actually with another entity, the authority must verify the correct party and current location before drawing adverse conclusions. If notice and enquiry are issued in the wrong name and the alleged non-existence of the correct entity is never put to the assessee, the proceeding is vulnerable for breach of natural justice and denial of a meaningful opportunity to explain the transactions. (AI Summary)

Local authority status under GST determines the applicable works contract rate for Delhi Jal Board contracts and related notices.
The dispute concerns whether works contracts awarded by the Delhi Jal Board attract GST at 12% or 18%, depending on whether the Delhi Jal Board qualifies as a local authority under Section 2(69) of the CGST Act, 2017. The GST department disputed that status, while the contractor claimed the concessional rate had already been applied and tax deposited. The issue was treated as a legal question requiring adjudication, and proceedings pursuant to the impugned show cause notice were stayed, with counter affidavits directed. (AI Summary)

Territorial jurisdiction and CBIC circulars remain distinct: the cause of action, not headquarters, governs the writ forum.
CBIC circulars issued under statutory authority operate uniformly across India and are binding on departmental officers, but their pan-India applicability does not determine territorial jurisdiction under Article 226. Jurisdiction depends on where the cause of action wholly or partly arises, and the place from which the circular is issued is not, by itself, a constitutive fact for jurisdiction. A writ challenge must be anchored to the territorial location of the seizure, assessment, adjudication, recovery, or other field action through which the circular is applied or misapplied. (AI Summary)

Limitation and delayed filing by enforcement agencies are criticised for wasting judicial resources and triggering dismissal as time barred.
Delays in filing appeals and special leave petitions by the Directorate of Enforcement are criticised as avoidable litigation that consumes judicial and public resources. A belated special leave petition was rejected as time barred because the explanation for delay was found absolutely insufficient, and another appeal was dismissed where delay was not satisfactorily explained and limitation was treated as running from the date of pronouncement of the challenged order. The text stresses prompt filing, discipline, and avoidance of unnecessary litigation. (AI Summary)

Customs sampling in the owner's presence is mandatory, and non-compliant samples cannot sustain seizure action.
Section 144 of the Customs Act, 1962 permits sampling of goods for examination, testing, valuation, or other statutory purposes only in the presence of the owner, and the sample may be restored or disposed of according to the Act. The discussion stresses that samples drawn in breach of this requirement are not authentic samples and cannot be relied on for seizure action. In the referenced dispute, conflicting laboratory reports and non-compliant sampling raised questions on reliability, leading to the view that the Department had not shown any valid authority to take samples in the absence of the importer. (AI Summary)

Present-moment discipline for GST and accounting professionals strengthens focus, sound judgment, credibility, and work-life balance.
Present-moment discipline is presented as a practical professional habit for GST, tax, and accounting professionals working under deadlines, compliance demands, client expectations, and advisory responsibilities. The article explains that constant movement between past decisions and future concerns reduces focus, increases anxiety, and weakens current work, while present-focused attention improves accuracy, judgment, communication, and professional credibility. It also links this discipline with letting go of the past, maintaining purity of thoughts and purity of action, and protecting physical and mental well-being. (AI Summary)

Voucher characterisation under GST turns on substance over form, with discount schemes, services, and perquisites treated differently.
GST vouchers are instruments that carry an obligation to be accepted as consideration for the supply of goods or services and identify either the supply or the supplier. The central test is substance over form: if an instrument does not satisfy the obligation-to-accept requirement, or instead functions as a service, discount, or employee perquisite, it is not a voucher. The article distinguishes vouchers from separately identifiable services, discount coupons, loyalty points, and employee benefit structures by focusing on the rights created and the real nature of the transaction. (AI Summary)

GST refund framework governs excess tax recovery, export refunds, unutilized input tax credit, and unjust enrichment conditions.
GST refund covers excess or non-due tax, interest, penalty, fee, or other amount paid under the GST regime, including refunds linked to exports, zero-rated supplies, unutilized input tax credit, inverted duty structure, excess payment, deemed exports, provisional assessment, and specified special cases. The claim is generally filed within two years from the relevant date, supported by prescribed documents and forms, and is governed by the principle of unjust enrichment, under which refund is denied where the tax burden has been passed on to another person. (AI Summary)

GST recovery rules govern electronic intimation, multiple recovery modes, and auction sale of detained goods for unpaid penalty.
Recovery of dues under section 79 of the CGST Act, 2017 is implemented through multiple modes under the CGST Rules, including deduction from money owed, sale of goods or property, recovery from third persons, execution of decrees, attachment, recovery through land revenue or court, surety recovery, and liquidation-related recovery. Rule 142B requires electronic intimation in FORM GST DRC-01D for unpaid recoverable tax or interest, treats the intimation as notice for recovery, and permits further recovery if payment is not made within seven days. Rule 144A governs sale of detained or seized goods or conveyance for unpaid penalty under section 129(1). (AI Summary)